With Flash Catalyst CS5.5 and Flash Builder 4.5, a true
collaborative designer-developer workflows are now possible. Designers
and developers can pass FXP and FXPL files back and forth as needed
between Flash Catalyst and Flash Builder.

Resizable applications and components

Designing applications for a variety of screen sizes is
a huge challenge that designers face. Flash Catalyst CS5.5 allows
designers to define constraints that control how applications and
components adjust when they appear on screens with different sizes
and resolutions.

New components and common library panel

Components allow designers to quickly design functional,
interactive wireframes, which can later be skinned or modified by
a developer. Flash Catalyst CS5.5 includes new components in a new
common library panel.

Ability to edit the appearance of developer-defined components

More intuitive component naming

When you convert artwork to a component, or when you double-click
a wireframe component in order to skin it, that component is added
tothe library panel. In Flash Catalyst CS5, these components were
named automatically (i.e., Button1, Button2, etc.). In Flash Catalyst
CS5.5, anytime you convert artwork to a component or you attempt
to skin a wireframe component, a dialog appears, asking you to name
the component. In this way, the components that appear in your library
are organized and named, making it easier to work with the project.

Transition timeline improvements

Interaction enhancements

Flash Catalyst CS5.5 provides you with more powerful interaction
possibilities, including the ability to trigger interactions with
double click and the ability to target any component within the
application.

Working with data lists defined by a developer

Flash Catalyst CS5 introduced the Design Time Data panel,
allowing designers to create mock data sets to simulate a connection
to a data source. A developer could then open the file in Flash
Builder 4 and replace the mock data with a connection to a live
database.

With Flash Catalyst CS5.5, a designer can now take the file back
from the developer, keeping the data connection in the Data List
component intact, and alter the component’s visual appearance within
Catalyst. Running the project from Flash Catalyst will display the
real, live data within the Data List component.